Silica terraces as a backdrop for geothermal hot baths could be a feature of Kawerau’s future if a project brief being put forward by Ngāti Tūwharetoa Bay of Plenty Settlement Trust is endorsed.

An extraordinary meeting of the Tarawera Awa Restoration Strategy Group is being held this afternoon, via Zoom.

The meeting is being held to seek endorsement and support in principal for the settlement trust’s project brief for the lodgement of a resource consent application for geothermal pools and habitat re-creation in the Kawerau geothermal field.

The project is part of a plan raised at previously meetings this year for the settlement trust to build a new geothermal power plant from which it proposes to utilise geothermal fluid run-off for a hot pool project.  

The project brief states that Ngāti Tūwharetoa would like to investigate the creation of a geothermal reserve that can showcase the recreation of geothermal vegetation and provide community use benefits.

The Ngāti Tūwharetoa Settlement Trust has land holdings in proximity to existing geothermal areas which could be suitable for this.

The project brief includes both sinter terraces and an “attractive bath complex”.